Additional Information

In the last few decades the popularity of the aluminium beverage can has increased dramatically. For the manufacturer and distributor, they are lightweight, keep the contents fresh, and can be printed with colourful designs. For the consumer, they are convenient, easy to carry, and more robust than bottles.

In the UK alone, over 5 billion cans are sold each year. In the past, after just one use the majority would end up in landfill sites used for domestic rubbish, but this represented a huge waste of resources.

ALCAN saw the potential, and invested in a state-of-the-art recycling plant dedicated to can recycling capable of turning every single can used in the UK back into high quality aluminium for making more cans. If you collect cans for recycling, they may well end up being processed at the ALCAN plant in Warrington.

Aluminium is made using aluminium oxide, extracted from the ore bauxite. It has to be extracted using electricity, and requires a lot of energy. The energy to recycle aluminium is much lower. In fact you can make 20 recycled cans for the same energy as just 1 can made from new aluminium.

To see how it's done, take a virtual tour of the recycling factory!

www.cashforcans.co.uk/shocked/

Recycling rates in the UK have risen from only 2% in 1989 to over 40%.

Many of the 5 billion cans used in the UK this year are destined for recycling